


Maybe (let's slow dance)

by superkv917



Series: Slow Dance [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music, F/F, Fluff, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22839793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superkv917/pseuds/superkv917
Summary: She unplugged the microphone, grabbed her computer, and making sure her headphones wouldn’t fall, she walked to the living room. She sat on the couch, cross-legged, listening closely to her track, trying to pick out any mistakes, anything off tune. Once she was certain there was nothing to be fixed, she relaxed her shoulders, laying on the backrest and gave the song a global listen.Suddenly it hit her.She had written her friend Lena a song. A song that was definitely not about friendship.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Series: Slow Dance [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648873
Comments: 13
Kudos: 309





	Maybe (let's slow dance)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> This is my first time writing in English, sorry if it's too simple/childish.

Winn had introduced Kara to the world of ‘music production’ at the beginning of the month, after a particularly good karaoke session on game night. 

_“You don’t even need to know what you’re doing,” he said as the download in her computer was finishing “you just have to know if you like the way it sounds, the software does the rest.”_

_“The piano instructor mother hired to give me lessons during my childhood would differ,” Lena said while taking a seat on the couch, in front of the pair. “Besides, as a programmer, I can guarantee you that if you don’t know the basics, your recording will sound like shit,” she looked at Kara and smirked, “no matter how pretty your voice is”._

_“It sounds like you’re challenging me,” Kara said, a playful tone in her voice. “In a couple of weeks, you’ll have one of my songs as ringtone” She mockingly copied the fake serious face her friend made when in business mode._

  
_“Oh, believe me, if you manage to get something that is at least decent sounding, I will.” The CEO picked up the glass of wine she had been drinking and took a sip. “I’ll even leave my phone on during board meetings.”_

  
It had taken her at least two hours and an embarrassing amount of YouTube tutorials to figure out how to plug in a microphone into her computer. But she was determined to record at least one song Lena would be proud of. She knew her friend believed in her, but was also certain that not for a second thought Kara would be able to do it. She imagined the face Lena would make when she proved her wrong. 

Soon, she concluded that Ableton Live was beyond her understanding after not being able to record a single sound in a couple of hours. Luckily, research on the matter said that there was a simpler software. It was free and came with song templates, a large library of sophisticated sounds and a help menu that was actually helpful. 

  
That’s how it started. 

  
In the first few afternoons, she was excited to try out all the effects, samples and virtual instruments. She messed with some karaoke tracks, but she didn’t like them enough. They were fun, but also slightly impersonal. And robotic, because the midi instruments had no emotion, no feel. She then moved to accompany the songs herself, with a keyboard she had since she was a teenager. But even though those covers were better, they were also missing something. 

  
That’s when it started to backfire on her. 

  
Kara began composing. In one afternoon, she tried out chord progression after chord progression and recorded them on different tracks. Then, she listened to them over and over until she found one that captured her attention. She set the tempo, pressed recording, and began plucking the keyboard, metronome in the background. When she was finished, she added the bass, and then another keyboard, and a pad, and some drums. And suddenly she had a complete track that summoned an incredible amount of feelings she could not put into words. 

  
The lyrics didn’t come at first. Every time the Kara listened to what she had created, she found herself captured in the music. She could hum a melody over the track, but not a single word would come out. When she felt blocked, she would play around with the keyboard, improvising, until she got tired and gave up. 

  
She repeated the cycle for some time. In the middle, making music became a habit, something to do in her free time, something to relieve the stress. She started to come up with other songs, too. Some of them were completed in one session, some took a while more. All of them went to a hidden folder in her computer named ‘Untitled’. 

In one of her particularly frustrating sessions, she made a mistake. She was furious because even though she was a reporter —who wrote as a profession— she couldn’t come up with words for her music. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but as she was listening to the first track she had ever made, she pressed something in the computer that changed the key of the song. Consequentially, the song transposed itself ten semitones up. 

A muffled groan left her throat. With the headphones still on, she closed her eyes and let her head back to give the song another listen. The higher pitch gave the song a completely different character. With a quick change in the velocity of the notes, it became more intimate. It felt simple and sweet, and slightly angsty. As she listened, her breath caught, her pulse quickened and she felt the temperature in the room rise. An image of Lena came to Kara’s mind. The sound ended abruptly, leaving the blonde with a bitter taste at the end, aching for more. 

She started typing. 

* * *

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed as she listened to the bridge of the song she had just recorded. It had taken her at least fifty tries to be satisfied with the sound of her own voice in one of them. As she added a fade out after the last chorus, she realized the song was almost finished. It was rather simple, consisting only on a basic piano arrangement, some midi drums (she had yet to learn how to play anything percussive), and a sweet melody that fit just right with the lyrics that had been stuck in her head for days. 

  
It was almost perfect. She couldn’t wait for her friend to hear it. 

She unplugged the microphone, grabbed her computer, and making sure her headphones wouldn’t fall, she walked to the living room. She sat on the couch, cross-legged, listening closely to her track, trying to pick out any mistakes, anything off tune. Once she was certain there was nothing to be fixed, she relaxed her shoulders, laying on the backrest and gave the song a global listen. 

Suddenly it hit her. 

She had written her friend Lena a song. A song that was _definitely not_ about friendship. 

* * *

Alex opened the apartment door, not bothering to knock. 

“Please tell me you’ll let me pick the movie tonight, I had a shitty day at work today, and I can’t handle a Disney movie until I get to shoot some…” She stopped in her tracks. Kara was completely concentrated on her computer, unaware her sister had just entered the room. 

“Kara?” She got no response. 

  
It was not often the older Danvers could surprise-scare her sister since her super-hearing was able to focus on any sound happening a thousand feet around. And it was too good of an opportunity to pass, no matter the consequences.

  
She tip-toed, taking her time until she was right behind the blonde. With a firm movement, she took away her headphones and screamed “Boo!”

  
In less than a second, Kara had her older sister pinned against the floor and was ready to fight her. When she realized it was not an intruder, she quickly let go. 

  
“You can’t sneak out on me like that, I could’ve hurt you!” She exclaimed while helping her to get up.

“Well, I did call your name, but I guess you were too focused to notice”, she said ignoring Kara’s apologetic look. “Snapper gave you a last-minute article?” 

“No”

“So…what was it?” Alex asked, and added when Kara looked away “Oh God, no, please tell me I did not just walk in on you about to have a _private_ moment, ugh,” she said with disgust “I’m leaving and we’re never talking about this!”. She started to head to the door. 

For a brief moment, Kara considered letting her go, just so she could avoid _this_ conversation. Her realization from earlier still needing processing. But then decided against it, thinking maybe Alex could help her figure out what to do.

“Wait!” She said. “It’s nothing like that” Alex stopped, the door halfway open “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise you won’t laugh, okay?” The blonde tried not to sound too nervous, but it was difficult considering the air had decided to leave her lungs inexplicably. “I might have a problem…”

  
Alex closed the door. “Wait, are you okay? Did something happen?”

  
Kara took a deep breath. Maybe her sister would tease her only just a little. 

* * *

Alex had been silent the four minutes the song was playing. When it finished, she put them down and started laughing hysterically. 

“Oh my God, Kara. How did you _not_ know you were in love with her?” There were tears in her eyes, and she whipped them away, still laughing. 

  
“Alex! Stop! You said you wouldn’t laugh, it’s not funny” Her sister replied with fake-annoyance but also containing a smirk. 

  
“It kind of is” she stated. “You wrote her a full song. A ballad. And you _think_ you might have a crush on her?” She dissolved into laughter again. “I mean, did you even hear the lyrics?” 

  
“Okay, I get it, I’m oblivious”. Kara admitted. “Can we please focus on my big problem now?”

“What problem?” Alex said with a teasing tone in her voice. 

“I need to get over Lena because I don’t wanna lose my best friend, weren’t you listening to me ramble about his for half an hour?” 

“She’s been flirting with you since you guys met, so… maybe you won’t have to?”

  
“No, she hasn’t” Kara affirmed and took the last slice of pizza from the box on the coffee table and took a big bite to give herself something to do. After some time in silence added, “She’s like that with everyone, right?” 

  
“I’ve known her as long as you have, and I would bet a monthly ration of potstickers that she has never looked at me the way she does when she thinks no one’s noticing. And you know I wouldn’t if there was more than a slight chance I’d lose, because I’d go bankrupt”. Alex was starting to use her serious-sister-tone, she had even sat straighter. “Everyone knows she likes you too”

  
“You don’t know that. Besides, as my sister, you have to say that. You’re biased” Kara argued

Alex stood up and walked to the chair where she had left her purse. She grabbed her phone and called a number, putting it on speaker. Ignoring Kara’s _What are you doing?_

  
_“Hey Alex! How’s it going?”_ Winn’s voice greeted. 

  
“I’m having dinner with Kara, you’re on speaker” Alex was trying to repress a smile “please tell her about the betting pool” 

  
_“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’d never bet on a friend’s love life”_ Another voice, James’, joined the conversation on the line, _“Oh, please, you’re so losing your fifty dollars”_. 

  
“Can someone please tell me what are you guys talking about?” Kara frowned. 

  
“Fucking Cowards!” Alex shouted at the phone, and then looked up at her sister, “Everyone's betting on when you’ll catch up on Lena’s feelings for you, and how you’ll deal with it”. She hung up. 

  
“I’d say I can’t believe, but honestly I’d be lying”. She undid and redid her ponytail. “What did you bet on?” she couldn’t help but ask. 

“I didn’t. But only because I thought you already knew she was into you but chose to ignore it.” When Kara shook her head, she continued, “And Lena is not a coward, but she would never confess unless she was a hundred percent sure you’d reciprocate her feelings. She loves you way too much.” 

  
Kara was starting to feel something unsettling in the pit of her stomach, and couldn’t define if it was nervousness, excitement or a mix of both. The idea of actually having a chance with the woman she’d been thinking about nonstop for days started to settle down. Then, a thought crossed her mind and made her panic. 

  
“What if I’m confused and I’m not really into her? I’d be the asshole that leads her on and then backs down” Her voice cracked “I can’t do that to her” It was almost a whisper. 

  
Kara’s denial was getting the worse out of Alex, “You wrote her a song about how you wanna slow dance with her, how can that be platonic anywhere in the world?” She was almost screaming. 

  
“Actually…, I might have written a whole album now that I think about it?” Kara blurted out and hid her face with her hands. 

  
“You are unbelievable!” 

* * *

Alex dropped by unannounced at CatCo on Thursday at noon. It was a very unusual thing to do, and Kara immediately thought the worst. 

  
“Alex? What’s going on? Is Eliza okay?” Horror showing on her face. 

  
“Calm down kiddo, I just came by because my phone died. I was supposed to meet Maggie at the cafe on the corner fifteen minutes ago but I can’t find her. I was hoping maybe I could borrow yours for a second?” 

  
“Yeah. You can use the charger if you want” Kara offered. 

  
“Nah, I’m good, I’ll take longer and I already have her waiting,” She said. Her sister took her phone from the pocket of her pants and gave it to her. Alex searched through the contact’s list, pressed on the desired one and typed a quick message. She got a response right away, deleted the evidence and handed back the phone to her owner. 

  
“Thanks! I should be going, bye!” 

* * *

Kara entered her apartment around seven, already starving. Before getting out of her work clothes, she started typing the Chinese restaurant’s number. But as she searched through the cabinets she decided against it. She hadn’t eaten any home-cooked meal in a while.

  
Her phone buzzed and she saw a notification from Alex. She ignored it and turned on the music on some Spotify playlist named “cooking”, while she started thinking. There weren’t many recipes she could cook. She remembered buying chicken two days ago, and she had some cheese on her fridge, so chicken parmigiana would be. 

  
When she was done she had the bread-crumbed chicken in the oven, covered in a hefty amount of salsa and cheese, and some potatoes cut in half to go along with it. While it finished cooking, she finally took off her clothes and changed into something more comfortable. 

  
The meal was already finished and she was about to set the table when she heard footsteps getting closer to her door. Then they stopped, and there was a brief moment when she thought it might have been someone using the stairs instead of the elevator. But then she heard a knock and walked to the entrance. 

  
When she opened the door she was surprised to see Lena leaning against the doorframe. She was wearing her usual black pencil skirt, white shirt —first two buttons were undone— and her stilettos. It was her usual office look, and Kara had seen her dressed like that hundreds of times, but somehow she couldn’t stop staring. Did she always stare? _Oh, Rao, how can I act normal around her again?_ She thought. 

“Is it a bad time?” Lena asked and then followed with “I know I said I’d be here earlier but my last meeting was delayed and I really needed to close that deal” She said nonchalantly. “I brought wine to make up for it?” She showed the bottle of red. 

  
Kara’s brain short-circuited. 

  
“Please, come in” She made an inviting motion with her hands. “If I’d known you’d be coming I wouldn’t have changed into my pajamas,” she said. “You haven’t eaten, right? I’ll set a plate on the table for you too”, she walked to the cabinets over the stove and grabbed two plates and two glasses then opened a drawer to grab utensils. She set them on the table. 

They started eating silently. When Kara didn’t dive in headfirst into the food, Lena sensed something was wrong. 

  
“Please tell me that you’re not trying to poison me,” She said jokingly. 

  
“Nah, I’d never. Plus, how could I if I didn’t know you were coming?” 

  
It was Lena’s turn for confusion. “You texted me”. She grabbed her phone and searched for something. “Hey Lee, I have something very important to show you, do you wanna come over for dinner?” She read out loud. 

  
“There must’ve been some misunderstanding, ‘cause I didn’t send that” Kara was baffled. “I’m glad you dropped by, though” then added upon seeing her friend’s face drop. 

  
They finished eating almost in silence, except for the sound of the forks and knives, and an occasional hum of enjoyment of the food. During the whole meal, Kara tried to find the words to start _the_ conversation with Lena, but she backed down each time. 

  
When they were done eating, Lena helped Kara clean up. After a minute of an uncomfortable silence Kara simply blurted out “You were wrong”. Upon seeing her friend’s disoriented face, she added “about me not being able to record a song”

  
“Oh, you did? In a little more than a week?” The CEO didn’t even try to hide the disbelief in her voice. “You have to show me!” 

  
It was now or never. Kara went to her room to pick up her computer. She almost fell trying to untangle the charger and the headphones. She returned to the living room and gave them to Lena. “It’s not anything fancy, so don’t expect too much”

  
She pressed play. 

  
Kara could hear the song coming out of the listening device, but never had four minutes been longer. She knew the words by heart and knew what was coming, but the wait was still torturous. And to top it all, Lena had a poker-face, not showing a single reaction to the music. 

When the song concluded, Lena placed the devices on the coffee table and turned to Kara. 

  
“I didn’t know you could sing that well, I mean, I always knew you were talented but this is something else” She put on a genuine smile. 

  
“So, you liked the song?” Kara asked, touching her neck nervously. 

  
“Yeah, I didn’t know it, though,” she said nonchalantly “is this something by Shawn Mendes or one of those teenagers you like so much?” She asked and quickly added, “I’m sorry I didn’t know it…”

  
“I wrote it” the blonde interrupted and when Lena stopped talking continued “for you”. 

  
Kara waited for an answer, and when it didn’t come, she started to panic. 

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry Lena! I completely misread the situation. It’s just that when I wrote it I didn’t know it was about you, and when I did I had this flashbacks of moments we’ve had over the years that showed that maybe you’d be into me…” her voice cracked “and then Alex came over and swore you flirted with me all the time and…” she was rambling and practically dying of embarrassment. 

She couldn’t stop a couple of tears coming out of her eyes. She felt Lena’s thumb brushing them away. The dark-haired woman lifted Kara’s head, so their eyes could meet. Then, she leaned in and kissed her. It was a soft peck, almost non-existent but it still made Kara’s lips feel electric. 

  
Lena moved away from Kara so that she could look her in the eyes. 

  
She leaned in again and gave her another affectionate kiss.

* * *

**From Alex** : have fun tonight, kiddo.

 **From Alex** : you’re welcome. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> So this may sound a bit narcissistic, but I actually took the title (and Kara's song) from one I actually wrote. So...if someone wants to listen to it maybe I could upload the link.


End file.
